The striped skunk is considered by many people to be a disgusting animal and a general pest in their Nashville, Tennessee communities and neighborhoods. This reputation is often derived from the disgusting smell that usually accompanies a skunk siting. Skunks are mild-tempered, mostly nocturnal, and will defend themselves only when cornered or attacked. Even when other animals or people are in close proximity, skunks will ignore the intruders unless they are disturbed.

In other animals, musk is used for scent-marking and courtship. Only the skunks have turned musk into olfactory muscle. When an adult skunk or its young are threatened, they may emit a musky fluid from a nozzle like duct that protrudes from the animal’s anus. This fluid—nature’s version of tear gas—can be discharged either in a fine mist or in a water-pistol-type stream. It has a stifling, pungent, often gagging odor that can persist for weeks and be detected over a mile away. On a still day, a skunk can discharge musk 12 feet with good accuracy. On a windy day, spray may reach a person standing downwind 18 feet away or more. Because even a few droplets of skunk spray smell so strongly, it doesn’t take a direct hit to pick up the odor.

People’s reaction to the odor varies greatly. Almost everyone finds it intolerable when in high concentration. Some people become violently ill. Low levels of the odor are still repugnant to most, while a few find them bearable or almost pleasant.

Occasional skunk’s sightings around Nashville, Tennessee neighborhoods should not be a cause for alarm. However when skunks take up residence around homes there’s no cause for alarm. Because skunks are nomadic, most concerns about them being under sheds, porches, and in crawl spaces, you should call our skunk removal experts and have the nuisance skunk removed as soon as possible.

Resident landowners and tenants can do the trapping themselves but they risk being sprayed by the animal they are trapping. Especially if they are using a commercially purchased cage trap or a wildlife damage control company can be hired. Our skunk control experts use specialized skunk traps and we can even transfer skunks to our special skunk traps. It is usually best to let someone with experience trapping skunks do the work. Because skunks often live in groups, multiple traps are necessary to trap them out of an area. So if you have a skunk problem or you have caught a skunk and need assistance. Call one of our skunk removal experts immediately.